Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the New Batman After All?

Credible rumors indicate that the Dark Knight Rises star will return in the Justice League movie in 2015. Possibly even earlier...

Everyone who saw The Dark Knight Rises last summer had the same idea we had: Joseph Gordon-Levitt would make a great Batman. But with Christopher Nolan leaving the franchise, supposedly for good, and the whole series expecting a reboot for the upcoming Justice League DC superhero crossover movie, it seemed like too much to hope for. Warner Bros. would probably find somebody unrelated to the Nolanverse to take over the cape and cowl, and that would be that. Then again, maybe they're more committed to Nolan's vision of the superhero than anybody realized…

Reports have come in from Drew McWeeny at Hitfix that the star of Looper"absolutely will be appearing in Justice League as the new Batman." Furthermore, McWeeny's sources indicate that the new Batman might be appearing even sooner than Justice League's premiere in 2015, possibly indicating a cameo or post-credits appearance in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel movie, in theaters on June 14, 2013, not unlike the world-building easter eggs and teasers Marvel Studios inserted into all their superhero films preceding The Avengers.

If true – and we're treating this as a rumor until Warner Bros. officially responds – it raises some interesting questions. Would Joseph Gordon-Levitt be playing an all-new Batman, not Bruce Wayne? Or would Warner Bros. simply cast the popular young actor in the role of Bruce Wayne for "simplicity's" sake, so the cast of Justice League could all be the iconic interpretations of each superhero?

Either way, Hitfix reports that Warner Bros. is also looking to sign at least one other actor from Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy to appear in future films. We imagine it would be Gary Oldman, reprising his role as Commissioner Jim Gordon, but who knows? Maybe they have yet another way to bring Cillian Murphy back. He seems to be a lucky charm for the superhero franchise so far.